Method of reconditioning full-fashion knitting machines



Sept. 22, 1959 w. E. ROBERTSON METHOD OF RECONDITIONING FULL-FASHION KNITTING MACHINES Filed Jan. 19, 1959 INVENTOR WILLIAM E1, Rosana-sou ,hdSLAAMHW ATTORNEYS 2,904,979 Patented Sept. 22, 1959 lice METHOD OF RECONDITIONING FULL-FASHION KNITTING MACHINES William E. Robertson, Hendersonville, NC. Application January 19, 1959, Serial No. 787,639 6 Claims. (Cl. 66110) This invention relates to a method of reconditioning full-fashion knitting machine of the type having a plurality of alternating sinkers and dividers which are carried for sliding movement in grooves in a sinker head and the sinkers and dividers are moved between the knitting needles to form stitches as each course is formed. The present method involves rearranging the sinkers and dividers after the sinker head has become worn so that the sinkers and dividers occupy different positions in the sinker head and the sinker head may be used for a longer time before requiring replacement.

The sinkers, dividers and needles of a full-fashion knitting machine cooperate to form the loop structure of the knitted fabric approximately 40,000 times in an eight-hour period and if uniform fabric is to be continually knit, the same relationship between the sinkers, dividers and needles must be maintained. After operation of the knitting machine for a prolonged period, uneven wear of the grooves or slots in the sinker head results and as a result of this uneven wear, the relationship of the sinkers, dividers and needles is changed so that imperfect loop stitches are formed in certain wales. The imperfect loop stitches in certain wales form longitudinally extending lines of imperfect stitches commonly known as sinker lines or needle lines which distract from the appearance of the fabrics, particularly of sheer hosiery fabric.

The manufacturers of full-fashion hosiery machines recommend that the sinker head be removed and reconditioned every six years. This reconditioning of the sinker head results in the machine remaining idle while the head is being reconditioned and is a very troublesome and costly procedure. The problem of uneven wear of the sinker and divider grooves in the sinker head is well recognized in the art and several attempts have been made to correct this uneven wear resulting in the appearance of objectionable light and dark streaks which extend vertically in the fabric.

In the US. patents to Luhn No. 2,140,936 and Richter No. 2,170,278, it has been proposed to periodically change the positions of the knitting needles relative to the sinkers and dividers so that the irregular stitches are formed in different wales rather than in the same Wale to thus prevent the formation of the walewise streaks. The US. patents to Cobert No. 2,061,299 and Brumbach No. 2,384,451 also recognize that uneven wear of the sinker and divider grooves of the sinker head cause uneven stitches and vertical streaks. These patents attempt to overcome this problem by providing readily removable bearing plates or inserts which support the sinkers and dividers in the sinker head and these inserts can be easily replaced after the slots have been worn to the extent that the quality of the fabric being knit is affected.

It has been found that the grooves in the sinker head which support the dividers become worn much more quickly than the grooves which support the sinkers and this changes the relative positions of the knitting instrumentalities so that uneven stitches are formed and streaks appear in the fabric. When the sinkers are moved into the divider grooves and the dividers are moved into the sinker slots, the vertical streaks of uneven stitches in the fabric disappear and the sinker head may still be used for a long time, in fact, doubling the useful life of the sinker head.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a method of reconditioning a full-fashion knitting machine which comprises simply rearranging the positions of the sinkers and dividers in the sinker head and therefore does not require the purchase of any new parts.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method of reconditioning a full-fashion knitting machine by a simple rearrangement of the parts which may be accomplished in a relatively short time so that the machine may be quickly put back into production.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the sinker head of a full-fashion knitting machine and showing the relationship of the dividers, sinkers, needles and the mechanisms for imparting sliding movement to the dividers and sinkers;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view of the lower surface of the catch bar, showing the operating butts of the sinkers and dividers in section and being taken substantially along line 22 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a greatly enlarged vertical sectional view looking at the front of the sinker head and being taken substantially along the line 3-3 in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, only those parts of a fullfashion knitting machine have been illustrated which are necessary for an understanding of the invention and the remaining parts of the knitting machine operate in a conventional and well-known manner. Referring to Figure 1, the sinker head is broadly referred to at 10 and includes a sinker top or cap 11 and a sinker bottom or bed 12 which are held in spaced relationship to each other in a conventional and well-known manner. A plurality of sinkers 15 and dividers 16 are alternately positioned for sliding movement in suitable sinker grooves or slots 20 and divider grooves 21 which are cut in the lower face of the sinker cap 11 and the upper face of sinker bed 12.

A plurality of knitting needles N are carried in a needle bar 24 which is mounted for vertical movement in a conventional manner to raise and lower the needles N between the sinkers and dividers 15 and 16 in the formation of stitch loops. As is well known, the needles N extend upwardly between the sinkers 15 and dividers 16 and in the formation of stitches, a traversing yarn carrier, not shown, feeds yarn to the needles N. The sinkers 15 are then advanced or pushed outwardly to engage the yarn and push it forwardly between alternate needles. The upper ends of jacks 25 engage the rear ends of the sinkers 15 and the lower portions of the jacks 25 are pivotally supported on a jack shaft 26 which is suitably supported on the knitting machine in a conventional manner. The sinkers 15 are advanced successively by engagement of a slur cam 30 with the medial portion of the jacks 25, thereby urging the upper ends of the jacks 25 to the right in Figure 1 so that the yarn will be engaged in yarn receiving notches 32 at the forward ends of the sinkers 15 and pass the yarn between the needles N.

It will be noted in Figure 1 that the upper ends of the jacks 25 engage the lower portion of the rear end of the sinkers 15 so that the forward pressure applied to the,

sinkers 15 by the jacks 25 is in alinement with the longitudinal axis of the sinkers 1 5. The rear ends of the sinkers 15 are also provided with upstanding butts 15a Which are reinforced by plates attached to opposite sides of the sinker in a well-known manner. The purpose of th but 15 w bfilQlQPQPSQE lZQQ- T ed yid 6 ar p ovi ed wi u s ding utts 16a ad a ent th i r a ends a th bu t 16a ext n pwardly and intoa groove 34 whichis out longitudinally of and the lower surface of a catch bar 35. The catch he 5 s ope at d in a c entiona mann to s m taneously push all of the dividers 16 forwardly between the needles after all of the sinkers 15 have been success s y ad a ed y he l k .5-. Afte the at a 35 has be n m ved fro le o i h i F ure 1, i i L sd 5, t the g ov ,3 w en a e t u t 5 of the ke 1 Th a ch bar 35 i t e ,tn d f om r h t le to thus im ltan ou y wi d a of the s nke s and d iqets 1 a the Stiteh lo p a e forme b e need es N an c op at n ku pkq e b t not shown.

It Will b n e n Fi u e 3 that the s k s a d div d 1 an 6 ar w stmq s of el e t n ea resistant material such as Swedish steel which is much harder than the material from which the sinker cap 11 and sinker bed 12 are formed. 'The sinker and divider slots 20 and 21 in the sinker head are substantially the same width as the thickness of the sinkers and dividers 15 and 16 and thus hold the same in an upright position when they are advanced and retracted.

After the machine has been operated for a period of time, the divider slots 21 are worn much deeper in the cap 11 and bed 12 than the sinker slots 20. This condition is illustrated in Figure -3 where it will be noted that the dividers have worn their slots 21 so that they extend deeper into the cap 11 and bed 12 of the sinker head 10 than the sinker slots 20. It is not known exactly what causes the forward portions of the slots 21 to wear while the forward portions of the sinker slots are not worn any appreciable amount, but it is believed that the main contributing factor to this excessive wear in the divider slots is due to the difference in the manner in which the dividers and sinkers are advanced. The butts 16a of the dividers 16 are higher than the butts 15a of the sinkers 15 and since the groove 34 of the catch bar 35 advances the dividers by applying pressure on the upper portion of the butts 16a, this causes a biasing action on the dividers as they are advanced and results in wear adjacent the front ends of the divider slots 21. It will be noted that the sinkers 15 are advanced by the jacks applying pressure in a direction which is in alinement with the sinkers 15 so that all the pressure is applied in a straight line and the sinkers are not biased as they are advanced.

In Figure 2, the butts of the sinkers 15 and dividers 16 are shown in cross-section and it will be noted that the reinforcing plates attached to each side of the sinker butts 15a make these butts much thicker than the divider butts 16a which are of the same thickness as the body of the dividers. Since the thin divider butts 16a are of a much harder metal than the catch bar 35, continued forward and rearward movement of the dividers by engagement of the butts 16a with the forward and rearward sides of the groove 34 will eventually wear notches in the groove 34, as indicated at 36 (Figure 2). Wear in the groove 34 will, of course, effect the distance that the dividers 16 are projected inwardly between the needles N and thus vary the operative relationship of the sinkers 15, the dividers 16 and the needles N. As heretofore stated, when the operative relationship between the sinkers 15, the dividers 16 and the needles N is changed, the resulting fabric formed thereby will also be changed and cause imperfect stitches.

In accordnace with the method of the present invention, the knitting machine may be reconditioned by simply changing the original positions of the sinkers 15 and dividers '16. This may be accomplished by removing the sinkers 15 from their slots 20, placing the dividers 16 in the slots 20 and then replacing the sinkers 15 in the slots 21. Thus, the sinkers 15 are then positioned in the slots 21, which were previously occupied by the dividers 16, and the dividers 16 are then positioned in the slots 20, which were previously occupied by the sinkers 15. After reconditioning in this manner, the dividers 16 will be positioned in the unworn slots 20 and the divider butts 16a will engage the sides of the groove 34 between the worn notches 36. The butts 15a of the sinkers 15 will then be positioned in alinement with the worn notches 36 in the groove 34 of the catch bar 35 but this will not effect movement of the sinkers 15 because the butts 15a are substantially three times as wide as the worn notches 36.

Of course, after the positions of the sinkers and dividers have been changed, it is necessary to move the jacks 25 so that their upper ends ,are positioned inalinement with the butts, of the sinkers 15,. After the machine has been reconditioned by changing the positions of the sinkers and dividers, fabric produced by the machine then appears even and devoid of any vertical streaks of uneven stitches.

It is thus seen that the present methqd 0f, reconditioningknitting mach nes is relatively simple, as compared to methods heretofore used, and maybe accomplished in a minim m of time vand with absolutely no .cost for replacement parts.

In the drawings and specification vthere has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. The method of reconditioning full-fashion knitting machines having a Series .of alternating sinkers and vdividers mounted for movement in a sinker head which comprises, exchanging the positions of the sinkers and dividers 2. The method of reconditioning full-fashion knitting machines having a series of alternating .sinkers and dividers mounted for movement in a sinker head which comprises rearranging the sinkers and dividers so that the dividers occupy the positions previously occupied by the sinkers and the sinkers occupy the positions previously occupied by the dividers.

3. The method of reconditioning full-fashion knitting machines having a series of alternating sinkers and dividers mounted for movement in a sinker head which comprises the steps of removing the sinkers and dividers from the sinker head, replacing the dividers in the positions previously occupied by the sinkers, and replacing the sinkers in the positions previously occupied by the dividers.

4. The m ho of reconditio n f -f hi n nittin achines h i a s n er head pro ided with slo s in Which a series of alternating sinkers and dividers .are mounted for movement which comprises the steps of reversing the positions of the sinkers and dividers so that the dividers occupy the slots previously occupied by the sinkers and the sinkers occupy the slots previously occupied by the dividers.

5. The method of reconditioning full-fashion knitting machines having a sinker head, a series of alternating sinkers and dividers mounted for movement in the sinker head, means for simultaneously advancing the dividers in the sinker head and means positioned in alinement with the sinkers to successively advance the sinkers in the sinker head which comprises the steps of; rearranging the sinkers and dividers so that the dividers occupy the positions previously occupied by the sinkers and the sinkers occupy the positions previously occupied by the dividers, and shifting the sinker advancing means into alinement with the repositioned sinkers.

6. The method of reconditioning full-fashion knitting machines having a sinker head provided with slots in which a series of alternating sinkers and dividers are mounted for movement in the sinker head, a catch bar for simultaneously advancing the dividers in the sinker head and jacks positioned in alinement with the sinkers to suecessively advance the sinkers in said sinker head which comprises the steps of; rearranging the sinkers and dividers so that the dividers occupy the slots previously occupied by the sinkers and the sinkers occupy the slots previously occupied by the dividers, and shifting the jacks 6 so that they are positioned in alineme'nt with the re positioned sinkers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,061,299 Cobert Nov. 17, 1936 2,170,278 Richter Aug. 22, 1939 2,384,451 Brurnbach Sept. 11, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 511,787 Great Britain Aug. 24, 1939 

